Villa Leopoldo C, Montisi

The Leopoldo apartments are part of a small castle whose origin dates back to the fourteenth century. During that century, the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala of Siena, owner of the surrounding lands, built the castle as a fort to keep all the products of the place. The warehouses of wheat and oil, along with the main house and the peasant and artisan lodgings, were enclosed within the crenellated walls and protected by a high watch tower and moats filled with water.

During centuries the hamlet and the nearby land had belonged to the Hospital of Siena. But then, in 1775, the place was sold by the Grand Duke of Toscana, Pietro Leopoldo, to the ancestors of the current proprietors. Unfortunately the elegant medieval crenellated tower was destroyed and knocked down by the Germans during their withdrawal from the Second World War.

The castle still preserves its medieval structure on the inside: still intact are the two small courts around which there were the lodgings of the peasants and the shops of the artisans. And you can still visit the main house. On the walls you can still see the old coat of arms of the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala and of the oligarchs who have succeeded throughout the centuries. Inside the master apartments you will be able to visit the bedroom with the splendid canopy bed where the Grand duke Pietro Leopoldo used to sleep during his visits, the old reception room with its authentic furnishings, the great kitchen, and also a gracious and small eighteenth–century theater.

Right outside the walls you will see a perfectly preserved small church where religious ceremonies and weddings can be held.

The castle is surrounded by lands from which their proprietors still get wine and olive oil: products that you can purchase at the place along with the fantastic creamy Limoncello, which is produced by the owner with the lemons of the garden.

The hamlet is located on a prominent position on one of the sweet hills which are part of the ‘Crete Senesi ’. All around you is a landscape which is the most loved and typical of Tuscany, reproduced by numerous artists and filled with an atmosphere of peace and tranquility to be experienced by all! You will be in the area where the famous Brunello di Montalcino wine is produced.

You will notice a spacious common living area, reachable from the garden. It is an informal and nice room to be enjoyed with somebody else: it features a magnificent vaulted ceiling with bricks, and you will also notice, amidst shelves with bottles of wine and antique objects of the countryside life, a small living–room in wicker furniture, a table, an easel, and a lot of space for you to enjoy your hobbies.

From the garden you can reach a portico under which a ping–pong table and some mountain bikes are placed, all available to every guest.